Four Letter Lie - Let Your Body Take Over

When it comes to bands that try to pull of the sing / scream duo, I am always quick to jump to the conclusion that the band would not be a group that I enjoy. I generally never give them the benefit of the doubt. In all honesty, I believe this is so because the music always feels to loose and not thick enough. When it comes to the guitar work, I enjoy the rougher and full sound. The cleaner vocals always sound too whiney and it just comes off sounding over the top and cheesy. However, Four Letter Lie has successfully created music that is not only tolerable; it is fantastic. I am here to encourage you, the potential listener, to throw away those hasty conclusions out the door you indisputably have as you continue to read. Their first Victory Records release, Let Your Body Take Over, is an album that will with out a hesitation surprise many people. Especially the people that refuse to actually sit down and give Four Letter Lie the chance they deserve. The music is spot on, the screams are very noteworthy, and the clean vocals are harmonious and wonderful in resonance. Hailing from Minnesota, Four Letter Lie is a group of kids that are no stranger to doing things on their own, busting their ass to make things work out and realizing that this will all pay off in the end. They are sentient of what the unaware may be thinking; “these guys sound like everyone else!”, but they have set out to make music that they enjoy themselves. Everyone needs to take a listen.

It is unnecessary to discuss which bands that fail to properly incorporate the scream / sing duo irritate me. Four Letter Lie’s Brian Nagan’s screams fit so wonderfully with Kevin Skaff’s clean vocals that for once, for me at least, they are the two commanding forces found through out the record. When it comes to heavier music, I am usually more inclined to focus in on the guitar work. However, it is unfair to leave out the rest of the talent that is within the ranks of Four Letter Lie. Known for the intensity of their live show, as the listener pays attention to the record, the guitars, bass and percussion are extremely powerful as well. Do not expect any intense metal riffs or that many break downs, but do anticipate extremely forceful music with very straightforward riffs that will leave you awe struck. I can feel the description of Four Letter Lie’s superb live show as Let Your Body Take Over progresses. Displaying only one or two slower songs, Four Letter Lie has created a very melancholic metal album that has a stalwart pop sense.

Let Your Body Take Over gets the listener senses and emotions flowing as they open with a program-filled introduction that quickly explodes into their second track, “Full Tilt Boogie.” This is easily one of the stronger and heavier songs from the album. This is the first experience you get from Kevin Skaff’s cleaner vocals and as he belts his lyrics over his own guitar work as well as Connor Kelly’s, it is a sure bet that the listener is enjoying the record, even if it is this early. Brian Nagan’s vocals are astonishingly brutal and positively heart felt. “Full Tilt Boogie” has a strong A Static Lullaby circa-And Don’t Forget To Breathe feel to it. When I first heard their latest single, “Feel Like Fame,” I was patiently awaiting to get my hands on the album. This is the perfect example I have asked for to describe how perfectly Four Letter Lie has pulled off creating an album that was emotionally powerful with heavy vocals but has soothing clean vocals that nicely compliment everything. The title track off the album “Let Your Body Take Over” is my favorite song off the album. Towards the end of the track, the guitar work has a very evident Third Eye Blind feel to it. The tempo begins to slow for “Firecracker Four Letter Lie” and is the staple selling point on the vocals of Kevin Skaff. The percussion thanks to Derek Smith lights up the background with very subtle and easy on the ear guitar work. Connor Kelly finally enters with the best solo found on Let Your Body Takeover. With the final track “Cowboys & Indians,” Four Letter Lie has Doug Robinson (The Sleeping) enter with some excellent guest vocals. Robinson makes the song extremely powerful and the break down found on the track is exceptionally brutal.

Four Letter Lie’s Let Your Body Takeover is an unforeseen release that will have many people knocked off of their chairs after taking a listen. People have annoyingly continued to write this album off. They have jumped to their conclusions all too quickly. They have failed to open their minds and actually give Four Letter Lie a chance. Let Your Body Take Over is a breath taking release that has no filler. After listening to the album, I am extremely pleased. The album artwork is extraordinary, filled with a lot of color and awesome designs. You cannot say that this artwork is cliché for any metal band out there, even the ones that have a strong pop feel to them. This is a wonderful surprise, I will be spinning this many times in the months to come.

This review is a user submitted review from Pat Marquez. You can see all of Pat Marquez's submitted reviews here.

Interesting that you liked it so much. I've read a few terrible reviews of this album, including the ass-raping Alternative Press gave it. I tend to agree with your reviews though, so I will have to check this one out.

Yeah, I'm surprised at the positive review. I clicked on the tab actually hoping for a nice ap.net scathing but funny critique. I don't hate this album, and I did buy it - so I obviously like this genre but...this really offers nothing to me but a bunch of kids aping the UnderOath TOCS sound. The review mentioned ASL - I do agree that at times the album sounds a bit like new ASL, but only in terms of sound, not in terms of lyrics and melodies. Four Letter Lie know what they're doing, and they pull it off ok, but lyrically, the chops aren't there. I also disagreed with the idea that the sing/scream transitions are smooth. It sounds like two different bands. I have a lot of friends that hate the 'screamo' sound. They always argue 'Dude - why can't they just pick one!' - I argue back that with bands like ASL, The Used, Atreyu...the dual sing/scream vocals benefit each other, and aren't jarring to me. With Four Letter Lie - I NOTICE the transition. The screams are pretty brutal and the singing is pretty poppy. it doesn't fit for me. And 'Feels Like Flame' is such an obvious 'popped up' single. No other song sounds like it on the album. This might be a hardworking band, but this album feels like the result of a 'Hey, let's make a screamo album' committee.

Damn. This was a longer reply than I intentioned. All in all, well-written review though.